Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“Jesse,” Teddy mumbled, shooting them a look over her shoulder.
“My wife cooks for me every night,” Draco told Finn, patting his flat belly. “I’m a little bigger than Curt. Hey, I’m Draco.”
“Let ’em in the house first?” I chastised.
“Just thought I’d get it out of the way before—”
I stepped past him and took in the room in an instant, stopping so fast that Jesse ran into my back. “What the fuck?”
“Come in, come in,” Kara said, hurrying toward us. “Hi, I’m Kara! You must be Theodora.”
I heard them making introductions, but my attention was stuck on Dylan and his girlfriend standing frozen in the living room. His girlfriend, who should’ve been a thousand miles away in Montana.
“I can explain,” Dylan said quickly.
“You’re out of your fuckin’ mind,” I barked. “Do her parents know she’s here?”
“Dad—”
“Asked you a question,” I said, cutting off what I knew would be some kind of excuse. I looked at Isla. “Your parents know you’re here?”
“I called them when we got here,” she confirmed softly.
“Fuck’s sake, Isla,” I said, shaking my head. “They’re gonna charge Dyl with fuckin’ kidnapping.”
“As of three days ago, I’m eighteen,” she replied, lifting her chin a little. “Legally an adult.”
“Oh, yeah? How’d that go over with Greg and Debbie?”
“They’re mad.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
“But there’s nothing they can do.”
“Jesus Christ,” I breathed in frustration. “Girl, you haven’t even graduated high school.”
“She can go to school with me,” Dylan said quickly. “We got it all figured out.”
“Oh, you got it all figured out?” I asked derisively. “You, Dylan, who’s seventeen fuckin’ years old, have it all figured out?”
“What’s going on?” Teddy asked, resting her hand on my back as she came up beside me.
It was the first time she’d touched me when I wasn’t touching her first, but I couldn’t even enjoy it because I was staring at my idiot son and his sweet but not-supposed-to-be-in-Oregon girlfriend.
“Deep breath, Curt,” Kara advised.
“She can stay with us,” Dylan said, his tone sliding from apologetic to stubborn. “We’ll finish high school together.”
I should’ve fucking known. When he’d brought up moving to Eugene a few months ago, I should’ve realized that it didn’t make any sense. He and Isla had been dating since their sophomore year. Two years was a lot when you were a teenager. Dylan wouldn’t have willingly left her. Plus, he’d barely questioned that I was going to Sacramento to bring a woman and her kids back to live with us. If I hadn’t been so fucking distracted, I would’ve clocked that red flag immediately.
“It’s late. Nothin’ we can do tonight,” Draco said, trying to defuse the situation. “Figure it out tomorrow, yeah?”
I continued to stare at Dylan, thinking of all the ways he’d lied since we decided to move home. There hadn’t been a fucking camping trip with his buds. He couldn’t make the drive with me because he’d been waiting for Isla to hit eighteen.
“Curt,” Teddy said quietly, pressing her hand against my back. “Finn is going to burst a blood vessel if you don’t give him a tour soon.”
“Yeah,” I replied absentmindedly. “Right.”
After shaking my head at Dylan, I turned to Teddy’s kids, who were watching the situation uneasily.
“Jesse, Finn,” I said, jerking my head toward Romeo and Juliet. “That’s my son, Dylan, and his girlfriend, Isla.”
“Nice to meet you,” Dylan said from behind me, pissing me off more with his politeness.
“Hey,” Finn greeted.
“You met Draco and Kara?” At their nod, I kept going. “Okay, you wanna see the house?”
I moved toward the back, Teddy at my side. “This is the kitchen. That door leads to the backyard. Pantry’s there.”
“Nice towels,” Jesse said quietly.
Hanging from the oven door handle were two folded towels with rainbows and gnomes on them.
“Thank Kara for those,” I grumbled. She’d also put dish soap and hand soap on the back of the sink.
I showed them the laundry room and led them upstairs. Teddy was silent beside me, but Finn became more animated as he checked everything out.
“Last door is the primary,” I informed them. “Not sure if Dylan picked a room yet, but you can choose from the others.”
Finn threw open the doors. The first one held Dylan’s bed and a bunch of boxes, so he moved on. There was another room open on the left side of the hallway facing the front of the house, and the last open bedroom was on the right side, with windows facing the backyard.
“I want that one,” Jesse said quickly, pointing to the one on the right. “It has more windows.”
“Fine with me,” Finn agreed, disappearing into his new room. “This one is awesome!”
“He’d think that if we were putting him in a closet,” Jesse said dryly as they walked into their room.
“Ours is down here,” I told Teddy.
“Ours,” she mumbled.
“Generally, couples share a room.”
I reached for her hand and tugged her toward the bedroom. When we got there, I let out a silent breath of relief. Draco and Kara hadn’t just moved me in. They’d also set up my king-size bed and made the fucking thing. I tried not to look at it too long, or there was a good chance I’d collapse onto it. Fuck, I was tired.